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Nature and Science August 2024
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| Liberty's Grid: A Founding Father, a Mathematical Dreamland, and the Shaping... by Amir AlexanderHave you ever flown over the United States and wondered why so much of it looks like a grid? Math historian Amir Alexander (Proof!) reveals the history behind the precisely measured layouts, including Thomas Jefferson proposing the grid plan to Congress in 1784 and a look at some of those who opposed it, such as George Washington, and why. |
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| The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life's Deepest Secrets by Thomas R. CechNobel Prize-winning biochemist Thomas R. Cech explains RNA, covering its amazing properties, exciting early developments, modern day advances (CRISPR, mRNA vaccines), and possible future uses in this "lively and entertaining" (Wall Street Journal) debut. For fans of: Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Song of the Cell; Katalin Kariko's Breaking Through. |
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| Sharks Don't Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist by Jasmin GrahamIn this inspiring memoir, marine biologist Jasmin Graham talks sharks and describes her lifelong passion for the water, her journey to becoming a scientist, co-founding Minorities in Shark Sciences, and the challenges she's faced in a white, male-dominated field. You might also like: Chanda Prescod-Weinstein's The Disordered Cosmos; B. Rosemary Grant's One Step Sideways, Three Steps Forward. |
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| Sing Like Fish: How Sound Rules Life Under Water by Amorina KingdonSynthesizing past knowledge with new research, this "exquisite debut" (Publishers Weekly) lyrically discusses the importance of sound to marine animals, how sound acts differently in the water, the perils of human-made noise on life beneath the waves, and more. Further Reading: Karen Bakker's The Sounds of Life; David George Haskell's Sounds Wild and Broken. |
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| The Secret Lives of Numbers: A Hidden History of Math's Unsung Trailblazers by Kate Kitagawa and Timothy RevellIn this engaging, accessible narrative that spans six continents and begins with a 20,000-year-old bone, a math historian and a science journalist shine a light on important people who've often been ignored or forgotten in the history of mathematics. Further reading: The Art of More by Michael Brooks; The Man from the Future by Ananyo Bhattacharya. |
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| Systemic: How Racism Is Making Us Sick by Layal LiverpoolBritish science journalist Layal Liverpool, a former medical researcher, expertly examines the detrimental effects of systemic racism on health and medicine across the world and argues that racism is a public health crisis. Further reading: Legacy by Uché Blackstock; Under the Skin by Linda Villarosa; Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington. |
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| Adventures in Volcanoland: What Volcanoes Tell Us About the World and Ourselves by Tamsin MatherTaking readers to volcanoes in Pompeii, Nicaragua, Hawaii, and more, Oxford scientist Tamsin Mather reflects on her own life as she ponders intriguing questions in each chapter, such as: Whey do volcanoes erupt in different ways? What messages do volcanic gases carry from the deep? Further reading: Clive Oppenheimer's Mountains of Fire; Robin George Andrews' Super Volcanoes; Jess Phoenix's Ms. Adventure. |
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| Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita MurgiaIn her compelling and unsettling first book, a veteran tech journalist describes what she learned traveling the world and speaking with a wide range of people about the effects, good and bad, of artificial intelligence on everyday people's lives. Further reading: Unmasking AI by Joy Buolamwini; The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann; Feeding the Machine by James Muldoon, Mark Graham, and Callum Cant (out in August). |
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| What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World's Ocean by Helen ScalesAcclaimed marine biologist and writer Helen Scales (The Brilliant Abyss) delves into a wide array of topics in her eloquent, engaging latest, examining how humans endanger the oceans, what we might do differently, and why there's still hope. Try these next: Holly Hogan's Message in a Bottle; Christina Conklin's The Atlas of Disappearing Places. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Byron Public Library District 100 S. Washington St. Byron, Illinois 61010 (815) 234-5107byronlibrary.org |
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